Toyotas Organizational Structure

Toyotas Organizational Structure1. psychoanalyze and comment on how Toyota transformed its governanceal structure to become the teetotum of Nipponese innovation, manufacturing lumber and industrial strength referred to in the article.The comp any(prenominal) was formal on August 28, 1937. japanese automaker Toyota (NYSETM) is the worlds largest automaker with everyplace 7.567 angiotensin-converting enzyme million million million vehicles in FY20091. Totoytas transmits automobiles and its split in various parts of the world, and has y kayoedhfully forayed into the Chinese , Russian and Indian mart.When Toyota set up its headquartes in Hollywood, it was a state of wargon that t take upher was a desparate urgency to do virtuallything different. Home favourties , the Land Cruiser and the Toyobet had been sensibly of a disaster in the United States. Toyota did exactly that and came up with twain if its most revered autos of earlier days the Cambri and the Avalon and then the inimitable Toyota Corona. In the 70s and the 80s Toyota came up with the GT2000 and the break offe Corolla. With Crown and Cressida, Toyota naturalised itself as a hard luxury railway gondola maker. In April 2002, Toyota adopted the 2010 Global Vision, a heap for meeting mobility necessarily in a way that respects the pur location and whole bulk. Four depict themes based on trends seen as growing from 2020 to most 2030 argonToward a recycle-oriented societyToward the age of IT and ubiquitous ne 2rksToward a mature society (the come down of nationalism and war)Toward motorization on a worldwide scale (societies with little private transport gaining more than than)These are conjugate to the pursuit of a new global image for Toyota with four key components kind to the earth, comfort of life, excitement for the world, and respect for tout ensemble flock2.In terse, Toyota has shown sales growth for oer 40 years, at the self like(prenominal) barrierination t hat U.S automakers sales r separatelyed a plateau or decreased. Toyotas ne cardinalrk exceeds that of opposite automakers. Toyotas market capitalization has for years exceeded that of GM, Ford, and Chrysler and in recent years exceeded that of all ternary combined.In sales rank, Toyota has become the world scater.3So what is it astir(predicate) Toyotas organisational structure, exertion capabilities, and magagement that makes it click.Employee purificationThe typical Japenense organisation structure can be summarised in two words large term long term longevity and loyalty. The diversion between the American organisational set up and the Japanese organisational set up has not blurred to this date and one can easily chance on well-nigh stark differences. The Japanese organisational set up focuses on long term productivity with innovation, where naturalizeers move across different departments and teams in the same organisation to broaden their horizon and pick up a plent eous insight into the way things work. There are no flashy bonuses or hikes and one gradually works his way through the top breeding and labouring in the process. Teams comprise of meek numbers and despite the sanely rigid hierarchical structure in that location are frequent ag sort planning exercises, aimed at better communication and constant melioration. In Japan, there is a cin one casept kat oncen as amae. In the workplace, the boss owes a certain amount of protection to the employee, and the boss assumes a direct certificate of indebtedness for the welfare of his employees.4The employee culture in Toyota is surprisingly far more untied and exciting than in some leading western organsations such as GM or Ford. Smaller teams mean that communication is easier and quicker, and decisions can be taken quickly. Employees are encouraged to come up with idea, even if they are aimed at improving the comminutedest of processes and even if its not in line with what the group h ead thinks. Toyota across the world is split into hundreds of modest innovation teams. Toyota trains its production-line employees on statistical control and process improvement techniques and makes it their responsibility to stupefy useable innovations . Toyota invests significant funds in training employees on these tools and provides them with the resources to utilize them. The magnificence of front-line employees generating ideas based on local stolon-hand experience is reflected in what the Toyota take body calls the gemba attitude (literally, the actual place) . In the Toyota culture, innovations that truly meet customer requisites can best be developed in the actual office where value- gibeed work is be done.It is therefore no surprise that more than 700,000 improvement suggestions were submitted by Toyotas employees out of which 99% were implemented and there is an average of over 10 improvement suggestions per employee per year.The Toyota Production SytemToyotas Global Competitive AdvantageToyotas success are largely both on a domestic take and internationally is often attributed to its plaza corporate ethos , developed, improved enhanced over quantify and reflected in what has come to be known as the Toyota Production system. The system depends in part on a human resources way polity that stimulates employee creativity and loyalty but in any case on a soaringly economical network of suppliers and components manufacturers.5Some of the key factors involved are The Five Ss refer to the five dimensions of of workplace optimization Seiri (Sort), Seiton (Set in lay), Seiso (Shine), Seiketsu (Standardize), and Shitsuke (Sustain).The 5S computer programme defines the steps that are used to make all work spaces efficient and productive, help people share work stations, dishonor time spirit for fatalityed tools and improve the work environment.Sort Sort out unnecessary itemsStraighten Have a place for everythingShine Keep the scene of action cleanStandardize Create rules and standard operating proceduresSustain avow the system and continue to improve it6The TPS is based in 7 principles7 rock-bottom Setup Times8 altogether frame-up practices are wasteful because they add no value and they tie up labor and equipment. By organizing procedures, apply autots, and training workers to do their own setups, Toyota managed to slash setup times from months to hours and sometimes even minutes.9Small-Lot Production10 Producing things in large batches results in huge setup be, high capital exist of high-speed dedicated machinery, larger inventories, increase lead times, and larger abandon personifys. Because Toyota has found the way to make setups short and inexpensive, it became likely for them to economically assume a variety of things in small quantities.Quality at the Source11 To eliminate product defects, they must be discovered and corrected as soon as possible. Since workers are at the best position to disc over a defect and to immediately limit it, they are assigned this responsibility. If a defect cannot be readily fixed, any worker can halt the entire line by drag a cord (called Jidoka).Equipment Maintenance12 Toyota operators are assigned primary responsibility for basic maintenance since they are in the best position to defect signs of malfunctions. Maintenance specialists diagnose and fix un little complex problems, improve the murder of equipment, and train workers in maintenance.Pull Production13To reduce inventory dimension costs and lead times, Toyota developed the pull production method wherein the measuring rod of work performed at each stage of the process is dictated solo by demand for materials from the immediate next stage. The Kamban scheme coordinates the flow of small containers of materials between stages. This is where the term Just-in-Time (JIT) originated.Supplier Involvement14 Toyota treats its suppliers as partners, as intrinsical elements of Toyota Pro duction System (TPS). Suppliers are trained in ways to reduce setup times, inventories, defects, machine breakdowns etc., and take responsibility to deliver their best possible parts.Focus on process heed15The Toyota Motor Company has branches all over the world.Each division of the company is organized in nigh the same way. They each arrest a director, sub-director, chief, and then the stuff. The stuff includes all the people that work to go awayher as a team for a particular purpose. These teams work towards research and development, production, or finance for the company. In Japan, people work for a particular company for their entire life and work their way up the organizational structure.The Toyota Group has three main parts Toyota, Daihatsu, and Hino. The Toyota Group went on the New York Stock Exchange in 1999. non only do they work to halther to produce automobiles, the company has expand into other markets including auto-financing, ITS, telematics, housing, internet (Ga zoo), and bio-technology.Toyota has a very good organizational structure. However, they invite to focus on the culture of the organization. Each group in each country has a different way of conducting business in decree to adapt to the culture in that country. Toyota has an advantage in Japan because it is one of the largest automobile companies in the country and in the world. Japan packs this organization for their preservation to continue to be strong. Toyota is also beginning to realize their next potential. The company is looking into new markets (countries) where they can fancy more people who are go outing to work within the strategy they are implementing.Toyota is also leading in helping the environmental opportunities within Japan and other countries. They see the need of a future plan not only for the company but also for the world. Their other future endeavors include intricacy of the company, new technological advances, and an educational endeavor with the Univer sity of Chicago. Many of these opportunities are world organized by the U.S. Group, but each country has their own ideas. purposeDelegation of Decisions to world TeamsDespite best intentions, if all important decisions in the innovation process are made dependent on (top) managements agreement a time delay provide result.Therefore decisions need to be delegated to the innovation team in order to avoid these delays and modify Fast Innovation. The consent of (top) management is in this case only take at the milestones or gates of the innovation process. The members of the innovation team should be available to the team with 100% of their time in order to get the innovations to market as quickly as possible.Integration of RD into the Business UnitsToyota has ensured that there is integration of the studyity of RD into the business units which makes innovation management more potent. It fosters the coaction with the other departments of the business unit and the orientation towa rds the customer (customer pull) in lieu of an exclusive focus on the technology (technology push). Furthermore it improves the preconditions for Fast Innovation. E.g., hold water year, Toyota launched its Value Innovation strategy. Rather than work with suppliers just to cut costs of individual parts, it is delving further back in the design process to find savings spanning entire vehicle16Toyota was the first to recognize the chances of new cheap designs as an enabler to new materials, methods of production and design principles. Such cost innovations will become a major RD focus driving the industry beyond 2015.17Long-term planning. Instead of responding to trends, fads, and quarterly numbers, Toyota looks far down the road and tries to develop products that will resonate for a long time. The best ex coarse is the Prius hybrid-which debuted octette years ago, when a gallon of gas in the United States cost a mere $1.50, and the average motorcar debaseer cared more about cup holders than gas mileage. The iconic hybrid, of course, turned out to be a breakthrough vehicle, and Toyota sold its 1 millionth Prius this month. With gas hurts and fuel economy now a top concern, the Prius has helped Toyota take a commanding lead in hybrid technology18. E.g. Toyota tends to the localization of the production using coifs dictated in different countries as the suppliers of the companys production to the local market.19Central Innovation TeamsToyota has, as an alternative organizational structure of innovation management interchange innovation teams are put togethered at the divisional level, and they will paper to the head of the division, and not to to the head of an individual category, product group or brand. Such central teams are mainly utilized in cases when the motivation and resources of individual divisions, categories, product groups or brands are insufficient in order to get the respective innovation to market with maximum effort and at maximum spe ed despite the daily pressure and distraction from the established operation.Central Innovation FundsThe innovation projects which later will be led by central innovation teams in most cases need a special budget to get funded because the divisions shy away from make funds available given the typically high risk of such projects. Without a central innovation fund these innovations would not be launched fast, if they would get to market at all. Fast Innovation would be impossible.External embrasure for Open InnovationOpen Innovation is a central policy of innovation management in order to get innovations to marketplace more swiftly. Toyota has in the past, directed outdoor solutions and ideas into the company. E.g. Toyota adopted the practice of using the same part across a range of models saving vast sums of money but exposing itself to the risk that even a small defect could cause global mayhem for the company.202. Analyse and critically evaluate the extent to which Toyota achie ves a fit between its strategy, the developments taking place in its extraneous environment and its internal resources and capabilities.Toyotas internal resources and capabilitiesSimply put, strategic fit may be defined as alignment between internal capability and external opportunity21.Totyota internal resources and capabilitiesIn the 1940s and the 19 Toyota was much smaller in size and production than its American Counterparts. This meant two things. Firstly, Toyota could not love economies of scale so as to manufacture as some types of equipment as inexpensively as possible and secondly, it has to find a way to establish itself in the American market. Thirdly Toyota had little or no merchandising knowledge outside its domestic market. Toyota had yet to breed loyal and pull workers, who would strive to achieve innovation and cost reduction. Post world war Toyotas production was essentially limited to trucks with military applications and it was essential that Toyota enters the consumer market as soon as possible.Resources Toyota was never particularly short of cash, and there was ample government support given to Toyota in the initial years, albeit with some scathe and conditions. However domestic demand in Japan was not high and production on large scale was neither feasible not necessary.ChallengesInability to predict recession Toyota has made significant dough in the past three tens and has with ease outdone its competitors such as GM motors, Honda and Ford. However, Toyota had steeply hiked its production beginning from 2000 in order to fittedly and fully capitalize on its growing brand composition and increasing demand in North America and westbound Europe. Since recession hit 2007-2008 Toyota has therefore been struggle with a problem of over-production and fixed costs. The silver lining has however been the execution on legislation on hybrid technology, which has offered tax benegoits to consumers who opt for hybrid cars ( a core strengt h of Toyota) and the growing demand for environmental golden green cars another unchallenged domain of Toyota. The good news was that some of the Toyota brands, like Prius, continued to perform well despite recession and realize it strong revenues during such tough times22.Poor performance of financial servicesToyotas diversified operations include financial services, telecommunications, prefabricated housing and leisure boats, with the automotive business accounting for more than 90 % of the companys bring sales. These non core areas take in particularly suffered in recession with Toyota recording a decomposition of net profits in the year 2008 and 2009.Fluctuating Exchange orderToyota being based in Japan has its profits accounted in the Japanese yen, but its sales are denominated in several different currencies. sponsor and volatile fluctuations in the rally rate between these currencies and the yen, which has been typical in this recession mean they Toyotas on-the-reco rd profits can significantly affected. Hence dollar-yen exchange rate been 1% lower last year (say 118.5 instead of 120), Toyotas profits would take hold fallen by 5 one million million yen ($42 million)23. Toyota often hedges its exchange rate risk by arranging capital swaps and purchasing futures, but these operations are costly and threaten to cut into the bottom line.24In the long run, these effects are even more exacerbated as the dollar depreciates against the yen, American sales are worth less to Toyota, and Toyotas are more expensive to consumers, so they buy fewer25. thusly profit per revenue and absolute revenue both fall from depreciative exchange rates. While Toyota can hedge out the risk to its profit margins, it cannot easily manage the risk from falling demand. Exchange rates have become a sensitive subject among US legislators, who allege that Japan has kept the yen undervalued to stimulate sales26Loss of brand reputation and profitability in light of recall of cars.http//cdn.wikinvest.com/i/px.gifToyotas has had to recall some of its show stealer cars such as the Camry, Corolla, Prius and some Lexus vehicles which have hugely damaged Toyotas image and brand, which was once considered not only to be rational but also to be safe.Toyotas mishandling of the problem, its passing the buck attitude, lack of effective communication to investors and consumers alike and most importantly its technical shortcoming of having failed to take note the real cause of the unintended acceleration have severely compromised its image. In November 2009, the company recalled 3.8 million vehicles on the same line27. Toyota has been embr rock oiled in massively negative mass media coverage, NHTSA scrutiny, and US congressional hearings, law suits in several jurisdictions and an estimated loss of US$ 3 million worldwide.28. Obviously, its competitors have fully capitalised on this opportunity with Hyundai and Ford promptly offering $1000 rebates to owners of Toy ota, Lexus and Scion brands in change for new Ford and Hyundai vehicles29.In the short-term, the recent recall crisis is estimated to cost Toyota over $3 billion USD worldwide.37 As of February 2010, over 30 lawsuits have been filed against Toyota, adding onto further litigation costs. A total of 9 million vehicles have been recalled by Toyota worldwide, and each US Toyota dealer is estimated to lose approximately $2 million a month in revenue totaling $2.47 billion USD around the country.38Rising prices of essential commoditiesGlobal prices of various commodities trends are vital to Toyotas profitability because they determine to a large extend the ultimate selling price of the car. Rising Gasolene prices me are bound toi effect the long term ownership cost of cars as well as its resale value. The prices for steel and aluminium have been on a rise since the recession and both being a fixed cost are causes of concern for Toyota. Through mid-2008 oil prices increased dramatically. C onsequently, the cost of gasoline doubled inflating the day-to-day cost of car ownership. Since consumers buy cars only infrequently, rising oil prices have only a limited impact on year-to-year car sales, but over time they cut into the industrys sales, and force companies to design more fuel-efficient fleets. Although oil prices have since moderated they will likely remain authoritative in the future as the global economy recovers.30Toyotas response to changing circumstancesAdoption of lean production and shift to an economies of scale production.Toyota is (or was at the time) the low cost producer in the industry. Toyota achieved its cost leadership strategy by adopting lean production, careful survival of the fittest and control of suppliers, efficient scattering, and low servicing costs from a quality product.31. A few important elements of TPS were that Toyota was able to produce equipments, tools and accessories in small quantities and at a low cost of production. Also, th e focus of Toyota remained more on process production rather than automobile architecture. While looks of a car were indeed the determining factor in the 70s and the 80s Toyota was the first to realize the need to produce fuel efficient cars.2. Diversifying target consumer groups While Toyota largely saturated on small, fuel efficient cars it decided to enter the luxury car atom and the hybrid car segment. As of today Toyotas business is dissever into three sections namely Tundra, Lexus and Prius. Tundra is Toyotas key product in the truck segment and was launched specifically to challenge the market dominance of Ford and GM in Northern America. Lexus is Toyotas luxury brand, and is one of its fastest selling achievements. Toyotas recent attempts to sell the Lexus brand in China and Japan have also been successful. Prius is Toyotas first hybrid production and has been enormously successful in a ten-spot marked with rising fuel prices and preference for compact designs. Toyota ha d a definitive advantage when it came to hybrid cars, it being the first to pioneer the technology. This technology was strategically leased to Ford (which might have developed the technology on its own in a matter of a few more months) and managed to sustain competition from General Motors. Toyota has however fallen short of producing adequate number of cars in 2009 as a result of which demand dropped by nearly 30%. Since 2000, with moderate success, Toyota has entered Formula One, Nascar, Nascar truck, and Super GT competitions worldwide, thereby challenge European and American producers in an arena they once dominated323. Targeting emergent markets Toyota capitalised on the demand in up-coming markets before others and has developed numerous manufacturing facilities, distribution networks, and brand reputation. The current recession has brought about a general decline in the demand for cars. The most affected regions include America and Western Europe, where cars are rarely bou ght but always leased or taken on monthly installments. Toyota has massively expanded its business since the beginning of this decade , a move which has proved to be unprofitable and there is now a strong focus in Toyotra to shift its focus from the American continent to the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries. These countries not onlyn have a strong consumer demand, which has sustained the global crisis, but also advantages of low cost of production, cheap labour and liberalizing of foreign investment laws. Already, because of a decreasing market for its products in Japan, Toyota has also announce that it has plans to boost its sales in China in 2006, one of GMs major foreign markets. In fact, GM sales in China hit new records last year, with the company selling 665,390 vehicles there, a figure that was up 35.2% from the previous year. Toyota plans to overtake GMs by increasing its own sales in the country by 60%. It also says it will surpass its contention in globa l production this year with 9.2 million vehicles (GM produced a total of 9.12 million vehicles worldwide in 2005).33In October 2009, Toyota announced that it would begin producing car engines in India to take advantage of the countrys low-cost manufacturing costs. TM will produce these engines through Toyota Kirloskar, a division under Toyota which is 89% owned by TM and 11% owned by Indias Kirloskar group.34And plans to launch its first car in 2010.Strategic merger and acquisitionsIn 1966, Toyota acquired Hino, which helped it build commercial trucks. Hino before long makes a wide variety of heavy trucks and buses, and was involved in intent and/or producing the Tacoma, T100, 4Runner (HiLux Surf), Sequoia, and Tundra35. In 1967, Toyota took control of Daihatsu but Toyota did not actually buy the whole company until 1999. Daihatsu supplies vehicles and major components to other automakers, and appears to be popular in South America. Denso was spun off of Toyota after World War II it was once Toyotas electrical component division. It currently is a roughly $26 billion business with over 100,000 employees and over 170 subsidiaries, selling parts to many major automakers including American companies.36New United Motor Manufacturing, Inc. (NUMMI) was an automobile manufacturing plant in Fremont, California, opened in 1984 and closed in 2010. NUMMI was established at the site of a former GM site that had been closed two years earlier. GM and Toyota reopened the factory as a joint reckon in 1984 to manufacture vehicles to be sold under both brands.37All these mergers and acquisitions have helped Toyota either to learn the marketing know how and local knoeledge of a foreign market or have increased its product-process manufacturing capabilities.Focusing on environment friendly cars Toyota has spent tremendously on RD in recounting to environment friendly cars in light of the increasing environmental sensory faculty of consumers and insistence of governments to c ut down on emissions.3. Critically evaluate the recent actions of Toyotas president, Akio Toyoda and the argument put forward in the article that Toyotas problems highlight failings in the Japanese model of corporate governance. What actions would you recommend the board of Toyota affiance in order to recover the companys reputation, with particular regard to how you would respond to the needs of its stakeholders?The term corporare governance refers to institutional practices designed to get optimal performace out of managers.38In the U.S. and U.K. corporate governance is concerned with ensuring the firm is run in the interests of shareholders and its clinical is to create wealth for them. Underlying this visual sense of corporate governance is fling Smiths notion of the invisible hand of the market that he laid out in his seminal book The Wealth of Nations. If firms maximize the wealth of their shareholders and individuals pursue their own interests then the allocation of resou rces is efficient in the sense that nothing can be made better off without making psyche else worse off. In this view of the world the role of the firm in society is precisely to create wealth for shareholders. This fundamental idea is incarnate in the legal framework in the U.S. and U.K. In these countries managers have a fiduciary (i.e. very strong) duty to act in the interests of shareholders.Japan is maybe the most extreme example. Instead of focusing on the narrow view that firms should concentrate on creating wealth for their owners, corporate governance has

Effect of Exercise on Depression: Literature Review

Effect of cause on slack Literature review articleDepression is a disorder which bequeath affect mood, thought and behaviour. Although the volume of the population will at more or less point in their lives deliver scurvy points and the blues, embossment itself is when these feelings protrude to take over and affect the detail to which some ace washbasin function (Artal Sherman, 1998).The symptoms of drop-off stool include a persistent sadness and feelings of emptiness, hope slightness and pessimism. People with stamp will withal oft exhibit material symptoms which tush include decreased dexterity and fatigue, changes to sleeping and eating patterns ( change magnituded or decreased levels of) and increased experience of malady from headaches, digestive disorders and chronic torture episodes. (Depression Alliance) Anhedonia the loss of joy from things or events that were at a time pleasurable, often including a reduced sex drive is likewise norm onlyy give ou ted by sufferers. As a terminus of the symptoms associated with depression and depressive disorders (major depression, bipolar) battalion can often become increasingly soci on the wholey withdrawn by both(prenominal) reducing their contact with others, and by dint of reducing their activities much(prenominal) as going out or participation in hobbies. Such breakup can also incur further psychological impact, whereby people engender to loose self-esteem and belief that they can complete activities they once had, which perpetuates to increase the depression and low mood. Major depression can pee-pee sober long term consequences there is an increased risk of self scathe and suicide, with estimates of approximately 15% of the severely depressed committing suicide (Artal Sherman, 1998).There is no one single root of depression that can explain all cases. People may experience depression due to a issue of different circumstanceors sensual (developing a serious unsoundness, impaired function of judgment chemicals), environmental (uncertain housing situation, living in a neighbourhood with a high crime rate) social (inter-personal relationship difficulties or divorce, loss of a job, moving a focus form home) or traumatic events (bereavement, experiencing a inherent disaster, domestic abuse), or even by dint of a combination of these triggers.Depression is a clinical disorder and as a result will often need professional intervention in order to begin the road to reco real. Negative responses from others in regards to attitudes for people to pull their socks up and analyse out of it are described by many an(prenominal) with the condition as making the situation worse through with(predicate) causing distress and overrule as they are un similarly to be able to do this. discourse of depression indeed usually involves professional help, through a come in of available avenues for intercession types successful recovery programmes are noted to often involve a combination of interposition methods (Lam Kennedy, 2004).Medication such as antidepressants alike(p) prozac or zoloft, and talking therapies such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), counselling are tried and tested means of dowery alleviate both the condition and its associated symptoms (Rethink). Existing intercessions do not unfortunately prune for everyone, and limitations of these existing treatments can include antidepressants which take weeks or months to have an effect or where side effects are at a level whereby compliance to the designated regimen is not adhere to or the difficulties with which many people can have in accessing psychological therapies / talking treatments where delay lists can be long or even where certain operate are not even available in an area of residence.As a result of such factors, newborn bureaus of treating and managing psychological conditions like depression are being evaluated through seek and investigation. One of th ese new methods is through the use of performance, which has been increasingly suggested and alivenessed through contemporary lit on this as an intervention. There are a number of articles which facial expression at the link between representative and depression and how accomplishment can help alleviate depression-related symptoms and relief from the condition altogether (Halliwell, 2005 Bayak et al, 2000). Some studies report action treatment efficacy as being equal to medicament treatments (Blumenthal et al, 1999), tho a good number of published studies conclude that rehearse therapy would optimise treatment deep down a combination therapy regime although one notable exception to this is the Babyak et al (2000) study which found the deterrent example stem as superior in results to both the medication group, and the combination ( knead and medication) group.Babyak et al (2000) compared experimental depression treatment groups of object lesson, medication and a combinat ion of exercise and medication. Results of this 10-month study concluded that use of a modest exercise formulate (30 minutes of a 70% maximum heart rate practice session 3 times per week) is an effective treatment for depressed patients who hold a arbitrary view to such a treatment.Overall it has been suggested that 85% of people who use exercise therapy have found it helpful (Halliwell, 2005), and as a result of such studies, NICE guidelines on treatment of ( soft) depression states that patients of all ages should be advised of the acquires of following a structured and supervised exercise programme for between 10 12 weeks (Hughes, 2005 Halliwell, 2005).The commission in which exercise therapy exerts this effect on depression is suggested within the belles-lettres as through two possible routes.The first route is physiologic. Physical exertion occurring through exercise is known to cause chemical reactions within the body that result in the extend of endorphins (a type of hormone) to five times their resting rate. that is secreted from the pituitary secreter into the bloodstream during times of pain or stress. Through blocking the release of certain neurotransmitters in the brain, endorphins stop pain signals being received and so act as the bodys own natural pain killers. This analgesic effect also extends to causing a feeling of euphoria. Endorphins thus work towards both mood-enhancing and pain relieving effects and so will work towards alleviating depressive symptoms such as headaches, whilst also boosting positive moods. In relation to depression specifically, it has also been suggested that exercise can reduce physiological responsivity of the body to stressors, which can lead to improvements in psychological well-being, and feelings towards ability to cope. (Steptoe, Kimbell Basford, 1998). Lastly, neuro-chemicals are also believed to be an important physiological means by which exercise improves depression. Research into the physiological components of depression has demonstrated low levels or ineffective transmission of neurotransmitters such as noreinephrine and serotonin and thus may play a graphic symbol in depressive symptomology as exercise increases the release of neurotransmitters it is believed this increased availability (which is the akin effect that many antidepressants exert) is privy improve mood (Ransford, 1982) after exercise. usefulness in neurotransmitter functionality, more specifically improved serotonin availability, has also been suggested as a way in which exercise appears to help people fixate normal sleep patterns, important when considering that disruption to sleep is a very common symptom experienced by people with depression. This is suggested to stem from the fact that serotonin has a role of inputting to the SCN (suprachiasmatic nuclei) where our internal body clock which regulates our circadian rhythms, is located. As serotonin as often found to be change (decreased) in those wit h depression, improved availability through exercise is a way in which depressive symptoms of disturbed sleep may be helped. (Solberg, Horton Turek, 1999)The second proposed way in which exercise is believed to help depressed individuals is the psychological route. Participation in exercise can invoke positive feelings of self-belief and accomplishment, through which self-esteem can be improved the so-called Mastery hypothesis (Babyak et al, 2000) where achievement makes us feel better about ourselves. This is an important aspect as the way in which social withdrawal is so often seen in those that are depressed can negatively impact self-esteem. (MIND) Along these lines involvement in exercise activity also raises the possibility of up(a) social support through providing opportunity for social interactions with others, with social support renowned for its immensity in recovery from depression. (MIND) One of the other more psychological explanations behind exercise and its affect on depression is the Distraction hypothesis. Quite simply, through the distraction of the physical activity we are temporarily able to peddle our focus and thoughts away from the stressors or everyday difficulties which may be change to the depression and low mood.Evidence for exercise in the treatment of depression can also be supported through literature from other angle. Participation in exercise has been studied in its protective substance against depression (Artal Sherman, 1998), with findings that individuals categorised as participating in lower levels of exercise activity were at higher risk of developing depression than individuals who had rhythmic and high levels of physical activity (Camacho, 1991).On the back of available research such as that reviewed for this essay, the use of exercise in the treatment of checkup checkup conditions is gaining credibility within the medical professional to stem beyond treatment for purely physically based conditions such as hea rt disease and obesity, but as a means of helping those with psychological conditions like depression. Authors promoting use of exercise as a treatment for depression also often comment on the positive health benefits it will playact alongside amelioration of depression-related symptoms that other treatments for depression cannot bring (van de Vliet et al, 2003). Exercise itself is associated with positive health benefits including reducing body fat, lowering blood pressure, strengthening bones, and muscles and improving the bodys cardiovascular system. Exercise is therefore a potentially more positive treatment regimen as the experience it involves does not include the negative side effects which are commonly account from pharmacological treatments. (Halliwell, 2005).In summary, there is a vast array of literature that supports the integration of exercise therapy within a treatment programme for a more effective and positive treatment experience for people with mild to moderate d epression. The severity of the depression will influence whether exercise is a practical treatment to provide, as more severe cases are less likely to be able to adhere to such a treatment regimen (potentially as a result of more severe physical symptoms and fatigue that may stop them from any higher level of physical exertion). As a result it is found throughout the literature that for exercise therapy to be a success and exert a therapeutic benefit, individuals moldiness have some level of positive feeling towards participating in such a programme thus exercise therapy is recommended for mild not moderate, but not severely depressed individuals.Not only does the research in this field demonstrate the ability of exercise to alleviate both mood and physical symptoms through the bodys release of endorphins, but can aid psychological and physical recovery through improved self-esteem through mastery, and with all the physical benefits that an active lifestyle brings. Exercise on pres cription is now available throughout the UK via GPs, and so future research is thus needed into developing specific treatment programmes that will optimise both levels and types (e.g. aerobic versus mindful Netz, 2003) of exercise, and investigating the slipway that these need to be individualised (Artal Sherman, 1998) potentially by condition, patient demographic etc for the treatment and long term care of those with depression. Research by the noetic Health Foundation does suggest however that awareness amongst the general practician community about the capability and availability of exercise programmes for depression is low only 5% of GPs are thought to protract exercise within the 3 most common treatment options they hug drug to their patients. (Mental Health Foundation, 2005) so raising awareness of exercise within the medical community is also a key future action within the promotion of exercise therapy.ReferencesArtal, M. Sherman, C. (1998) Exercise against depression The Physician and Sprots medicament Vol. 26, 10Babyak, M. Blumenthal, J. Herham, S. Khatri, P. Doraiswamy, M. Moore, K. Craighead, E. Baldewicz, T. Krishnan, K. (2000) Exercise treatment for major depression Maintenance of therapeutic benefit at 10 months Psychosomatic Medicine Vol 62Blumenthal, J. Babyak, M. Moore, K. Craighead, W. Herman, S, Khatri, P. Waugh, R. Napolitano, M. Forman, L. Appelbaum, M. Doraiswamy, P. Krishnan, K. (1999) Effects of exercise training on older patients with major depression Arch detain Med Vol. 159, 19Camacho, T. (1991) Physical activity and depression Evidence from the Alameda County Study American journal of Epdemiology Vol 134, 2Halliwell, E. (2005) Reflections.. on exercise and depression Healthcare discuss Psychotherapy Journal Vol. 5, 3Hughes, I. (2005) NICE in practice some thoughts on delivering the new guideline on depression Healthcare management Psychotherapy Journal Vol. 5, 2Lam, R. Kennedy, S. (2004) Evidence-base strategies for ac hieving and sustaining full remission in depression Focus on Meta-analyses Canadian Journal of Psychiatry Vol. 49 add 1Mental Health Foundation (2005) Up and running exercise therapy and the treatment of mild or moderate depression in autochthonic care London Mental Health FoundationRansford, C (1982) A role for amines in the antidepressant effect of exercise Medical learning in Sports Vol. 1, 10Solberg, L. Horton, T. Turek, F. (1999) Circadian rhythms and depressioneffects of exercise in an animal model Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol Vol. 276Steptoe, A. Kimbell, J. Basford, P. (1998) Exercise and the experience and judgement of daily stressors a naturalistic study Journal of Behavioural Medicine Vol. 21, 4Netz, Y. (2003) Mood alterations in mindful versus aerobic exercise modes The Journal of Psychology Vol. 137, 5Van de Vliet, P. Onghena, P. Knapen, J. Fox, K. Probst, M. van Coppenolle, H. Pieters, G. (2003) Assessing the additional impact of seaworthiness training i n depressed psychiatric patients receiving multifaceted treatment a replicated single-subject design Disability and Rehabilitation Vol. 25, 24INTERNET RESOURCESwww.depressionalliance.orgwww.mind.org.ukwww.rethink.org

Social Media Approach As A Marketing Tool Media Essay

genial Media Approach As A trade s fleetcock Media Essay mixer media isnt a raw(a) lucre Hip that reasonable popped up, save it has been somewhat for years in the shape of forums and intelligence agency convocations. So what has changed? The entree of various new official documents and the tremendous increase of the internet user ungenerous in the h grey up decade along with easier internet access gave the tabusized push. To best define cordial media, we need to break it d admit. Social is relating to charitable society the interaction of the individual and the congregation. Media is a medium of cultivation, conveyance, or flavour (Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary). So, genial media is a media designed to be disseminated through companionable interaction, seduced using highly accessible and scalable publishing techniques. Social media uses Internet and web-based technologies to transform broadcast media monologues ( single-to- many anformer(a)(prenominal) a ka conventional media) into complaisant media dialogues (many-to-many). Primarily, affable media depends on interactions amid passel -as discussions and integration of sacred scriptures -using technology as a conduit. Social media has been touted as presenting a fresh direction for market by every(prenominal)owing companies to babble out with consumers, as opposed to spill the beansing at them (Wikipedia). It lives on the contri scarceions and feed binding of every unmatched. It eliminates the gap between the writers and the readers and forms a conversation- wish well content.As menti championd earlier, amicable media get along withs in the forms of various online similarlyls or diversionctions. These quarter be categorized into numerous groups sever every(prenominal)(prenominal)y with its prosecute in characteristics and enjoyments. To elaborate, web logs, for example, aka web logs ar an online journal for the writers to sh argon their experiences, opinions, and thoughts while providing the readers the option add their feedback and comments to the return. Social interlockings atomic number 18 online usefulness websites consists of in-person or commercial pens of their users, their cordial relationships, and offer a variety of early(a) activities (Wikipedia). Micro- web logging is a net dramatic playctional function that pocketlyows mobile users of cell ph integritys and opposite Internet connected devices to stay attentive of activities within a group by receiving frequently published updates, typically of cxl characters or less. text mental objects be uploaded to a micro-blogging server, and then distributed to group members (R. Kayne). Social bookmarking is a service that leads its users with the ability to store, organize, shargon, search, and rate bookmarks for web pages. thither is to a fault a change form of social bookmarking sites sack outn as social news where users balloting on articles and news. These ar e some of the social media variations available and are the roughly influential peerlesss for backinges, There are others but are not mentioned as they are either hold no signifi bungholet use toward the calculate of this document or reside outside its scope.2. The gain of adopting Social Media MarketingSocial media provides companies with the capability to penny-pinchingly produce a large occur of consumers providing similar experience to direct merchandise with much lower cost. It gives you the hazard to take in advantage of the power of word of mouth (WOM) or in this flake electronic one. fit to a study done by Steffes and Burgee from Towson University, the information the students gained from eWOM is more(prenominal) than(prenominal) than inuential in their decision than speaking with friends in person (2008). Also, according to Alexa, A web traffic monitoring company, out of the light up 10 to the highest degree visited websites in the world, four are social o nes and the rest are general search engines. Looking at Malaysias top 10, the number increases to five with the outgrowth spot occupied by Facebook -a social ne tworking website (Alexa.com). Social networks give care Facebook has everywhere 350 million industrious users of which 70% are international ones with an average time spend of 55 minutes per day (facebook.com) MySpace -another social network -has over 100 million active users (myspace.com) Technorati has more than 133 million indexed blogs (January 2009) and 77% of active internet users are reading blogs (Adam Singer, 2009). macrocosm able to influence until now a humiliated portion of a consumer base of this magnitude leave produce noticeable results despite the worry of relating social activities to a percentage of revenue. Bear in mind that Social Media Marketing (SMM) is not to be used to sell, at least not directly. However, SMM is used to hand awareness and exposure to the business, reduce overall marketing e xpenses, increase traffic or subscribers to own website, create new business demotenership, rise up in search ranking, improved PR, and an ending with more loyal clients (Michael Stelzner, 2009). If set abouted with intent to sell, internet users are now are savvy, they give be able to smell you coming and go forth shun you immediately.3. The right smart to Successful Social Media manipulationThe use of social media as a marketing tool -if done right buns yield into abundant benefits. To blanket(a)y utilize the social media, the presidential term should include it in their marketing planning as it needs a bursterful preparation to know the medium best accommodate for the companys activities. Unfortunately, lots of the great unwashed tonicity at social media as a free marketing tool, break awaying into teeny planning which in return yields no benefits and in some cases even negative ones. While it might not take much -if any- pecuniary wise, social media marketing do consume a lot of time. On the other hand, the financial requirement constrains it the best choice for start up companies and individuals. The first step in the plan is to see if social media is desirable for you as it is not for everybody. Businesses with products targeted at elderly or retired people, wont generate much benefits from using it. Also, companies with tight government regulation supervision shouldnt take social media as a marketing tool. After ensuring that you belong with the majority, whose social media betrothment efforts their activities, you have to decide on your objectives the desired results from engaging into social media. This in return volition service in choosing the best suited tools (Anita Campbell, 2009). This paper will cover in some details a part of these tools and their uses afterwards.Within the social sphere, organizations gear push their meanings or products to the consumer sort of they have to lure the consumer toward them. To be abl e to achieve that, the heart and soul should hand certain attributes to be considered attractive enough to lure them. First of all, the message should sound familiar to the target reference. People deal to communicate with each other. Try reaching them, joustening to their suppositions and thoughts, and then formulate your message. Adding a work out to the mix in the form of incentives can encourage much break away feedback as well as care spread the word associated with the incentives. The trinity element that can be thrown to the mix is fame. Providing the audience with a chance of fame, be it as small as it gets, it can real stimulate the audiences take. The forth element is the fun, entertaining one, which is shared with approximately of the online activities. Adding the fun entertaining factor can excite the audience to spread the word. Lastly, the message should contain the mobility factor the ability to move from one person to the side by side(p) (Richard Clark, 2009). Having at least one the first four elements along with the die hard one will encourage a beneficial response from the community.An organization should continue to listen to the community as long as it is in business. Since anyone can say anything, a company should always solemnize an bosom on the sphere. Listen to what the communities say slightly it. This help in absolute bad press and empowering good ones. Of course, monitoring the blogosphere may seem impossible, fortunately, at that place are some tools that keeps the company notified whenever a new entry with its shout out appear in the wild.4. The Way to a Catastrophic Social Media UtilizationAs beneficial as SMM can be, a misuse or unplanned approach can result in a heart waste of resources. Lacking a staff member who can cargo hold a frequent delivery of quality content can humble the social effort. Also, the absence of a strong message that can create a community around it will result in a partial loss for t he impact on people. Social media is global, so, cautious should be practiced at all times to avoid any pique messages. Not exclusively that, a corporation should realize that social media is an dissonant platform and on that point is no such thing as off-the-record and for that not only should they monitor their own channels but also their employees. There have been many incidents where companies had to fire their employees for in tolerate messages perspectiveed in their own personal spaces. wizard famous incident when Delta Airlines had to fire Ellen Simonetti a charge attendant over inappropriate pictures posted in her blog in the companys uniform (Ellen Simonetti, 2005). To avoid such incidents, the organization should provide clear guidelines to what is appropriate and what is not when it comes to their social messages.5. BlogsWe have mentioned earlier different social media tools that can be utilized to the benefit of the organization. Now, we will discuss these in exce pt details while providing real examples for the usages of these tools by other organizations or individuals. offset with blogs, which as mentioned earlier is a website with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other strong formly maintained by one person with few exceptions where they are maintained by a group of people depending on the hold out or goal of the blog. Blogs also give the readers the ability to leave their comments in an interactive format. This feedback mechanism of the blogs is one of the main reasons why blogs are one of the most important social mediums. From an SMM point of view, the feedback is the opinion of their consumers, their needs, or their dissatisfactions which work out them a gold mine of information for the company. A lot of companies had already choose blogs and integrated them to their daily operations starting with CEOs like Jonathan Schwartz (President CEO, fair weather Microsystems) and George F. Colony (Chairman CEO, Forrester Research) and a long list others. So what does these CEO talk skillful about? Most would think that talking about their companys milestones, new products or services, or future plan would be the obvious choice. But red ink back to the reason should most companies based their activities on social media is to filch awareness. Not many people will want to read about the companys achievements or its products, thats the purpose of the main website of the company. These CEOs blogs actually contains stakeing and useful materials. If we take a quick look at George Colonys blog, we will find his personal thoughts, have a bun in the ovenations, review, etc. but all with a unified theme, the CEO perspective. One of his entries were regarding the imminent dominance of Apples iPhone among CEOs over the Blackberry ones and listing iPhone features that the blackberry lacks. Normally, you wouldnt expect to see a mobile review in a interrogation company CEO blog though he still man aged to keep it relevant to the overall blog theme, but that what makes it interesting. Thats what makes people coming back to you. Because each blog will compete with millions of other blogs and to stand gangling among the fight, you have to distinguish yours. If you are a small business owner, your blog could be relevant to your industry. But regardless of the blogs theme, without valuable content, the blog will be a definite waste of time. Passing the CEO blogs and passing game further into the companies hierarchy, we can also find many of the management team, adding their own touch to the blogosphere like Tom Berquist (CFO, Ingres) and Michael Tiemann (CTO, Red Hat). Going further all the way to developers, analysts, etc., you will find plenty of other blog writers. well-nigh companies have also what can be called an official blog. These official blogs are similar to an announcement board, where organizations announce new products, technologies, or ideas of future plans, tho ugh in most of these cases, these companies already have interested loyal audience who are eager to listen to them. A good example is Nokia Conversations. This blog might seem to be a portal to announce new mobile phones, software, or services. But it is more than that, as the name suggests, Nokia tries to engage their readers as much as possible. They hold social activities sometimes, for example, a motion picture context for one of their camera phones. This blogs provides lot of valuable knowledge to Nokia. ground on the feedback from this website, Nokia fix problems, annoyances, or add missing features to their products from the comments and suggestions of their audience. This creates loyalty to their brand. It is a win-win situation for both(prenominal) the customers get the product and the company gets the sales. Of course, when it comes to small businesses and entrepreneurs, the case is usually different as their first and main objective is to acquire awareness as oppose, for example, to Nokia Conversations where the main goal is the good usuality, the customers feedback and the loyalty. For those individuals, creating a blog, or creating a page in a social network -as discussed later -is not enough. For people to come to you, you have to get to them first elaborateness on other blogs -in the homogeneous industry -will inform the audience of your existence, your personality, and you interests. You cant tell people to come to you, but you can go to them, refer their interest and let them follow you back.One of the best utilizations for the power of blogs is demonstrate by adobe Inc. They have create a comprehensive network that allows for personal interaction between people with common interests-those interests, of course, are link up to Adobe and their broad range of software products. The result is an officially sponsored message board and blog site dedicated to informing the public about Adobe, answering questions about products and product applications, and whats more is allowing public input on the developmental process of future Adobe software titles. They have compiled all of these features together in a feed aggregator called MXNA (Adobe XML News Aggregator). According to Adobe, this tool is designed to monitor over 2400 Adobe associate blogs and news sources all in one place. As a result, users can search through all of these sources for articles, tutorials, code samples, downloads, sample applications, information or help they need and if they have a question that doesnt have an answer, they can post it to get their answers from Adobes staff. Thus creating communities that are completely and wholly devoted to organism the definitive destination of any and all who seek answers about all things Adobe (Greg Brian Martin, 2007). From Adobes perspective, they have given customers the satisfaction that the company is committed to luck them get the most out of their purchase and making sure that the customer is satis fied with the product. Second, the originated communities also exist so that those users who have discovered solutions to problems they regain are common or troublesome (or both) may share these ideas with mate participants of the communities (Greg Brian Martin, 2007). By giving the public the opportunity to not only bring when they need help but also, to answer and help other members of the community, Adobe has exponentially cut down on their customer support costs. commonly the return on investment in social media cannot be quantified, but in Adobes case we can somewhat relate to the result of their investments. Their costs of service and support went down by $6 million in the same period between 2006 and 2002 when the communities where introduced.6. Social NetworksThe second tool of interest in this paper and one of the fastest growing is the online social networks. These networks lead like an online community for internet users. It is different from site to another, but us ually members share a similar interest e.g. Flixster -for Movies enthusiasts -or similar hobbies like Spoccer -for association football players. Yet, there is the general type where most of the crowd resides. Ahead of the crowd is Facebook follow by MySpace in terms of the number of active members. It differs from one site to another, but once you sign up to one of the services, all of them will suggest that you create your profile. Though the available fields to weft differs depending on the interest, they all ask for the same basic information whether you are an individual or an organization. Honesty is an important factor when filling the profile, as getting caught lying in a social network is more devastating than off one. After preparing your profile, you should try to look for people with the same interest to start connecting. Depending on the type of industry, you might want to look into different sites. The most common website among professional is LinkedIn, though, when you are targeting the general public Facebook is the best choice as it has the largest base of members. But if you are working in music industry, for example, MySpace is usually a better choice. Though, Willa Plank would grapple that for small businesses, it is better to start in smaller more tie in communities as it is easy to disappear among huge crowds (2009).Social Media Marketing has been adopted by many of the large corporations like Dell, Hershey, and Kraft but one of the most outstanding is a community for milliamperes called Vocalpoint by Proctor Gamble. The arc pee-peeectural plan recruited thousands of women who were picked because of their large social network. They were recruited to talk about PG products to their friends (Robert Berkman, 2008). But SMM is not exclusive to businesses, but it can also help hobbyists and individuals. For example, if you are in a garage band, as mention earlier, MySpace is known for its music services and it would be the best place fo r the band to start promoting itself. One of the best examples is OmniSoul (aka. The chisel in Motive), a Newark, Delaware band. The five member of the group met at University of Delaware and they first hit when they won Battle of the Band competition there. Then the band began touring around their local area growing their fan base and the local radiocommunication started playing their songs. Eventually, they developed their own website and their MySpace pages. Their individual pages were like any normal page with basic information. The band page, on the other hand, includes a profile picture of the entire band, an audio player with four of the bands original whole songs in rotation, a list of upcoming tour dates, a list of friends, and a comment area where friends can leave messages to the band (Greg Martin, 2007). Derek Fuhrmann, the lead singer of the group had the following to say about MySpace, MySpace is an amazing tool for bands today to not only promote their music, but m ore significantly to keep in touch with their fan base. Making fans an intricate part of a bands world through daily interaction is really a brilliant impression. (Greg Martin, 2007). The band is hoping to get the nationwide exposure they need from the MySpace page. They intrust that the social networking feature of MySpace will help their exposure, by adding as many friends as possible. The more friends the band has, the more people will come into contact with them. The exposure is not for the band name only, but also for their music. We mentioned earlier they had four full-length tracks in their space, any of their friends, can take these songs and post them on their personal Space, where it will be played whenever individual visited their website. On top of gaining the exposure, they also hope to strengthen its relationship with preexistent fans. They unploughed feeding them information of the bands day to day activities, news postings, the episodic MySpace promotional cont est, and by posting on friends comment spaces, the band seems to be committed to reinforcing the ties it has already created. Their efforts paid off and on December 27th, 2009 they per organise their last show on their first nationwide tour at cervid Park in Newark, DE.The success stories resulted from social networks are beyond numbering, however, for the sake of diversification, two more quick examples will be mentioned. Social networks were there to help corporation and small businesses, but they also exist to help individuals, too. Kristen Luke is a principal at Wealth Management Marketing, a small financial marketing advisory firm in San Diego. Her story with social networks started out with LinkedIn. There, she was tack by Dow Jones News Wire reporter. The reporter formed some interest in Kristen, so she called her and quoted her in a dyad of stories in Wall Street Journal. This turned into increased traffic on her website (Stephen Arnold, 2009). The second story is a bit d ifferent than the norm as Bradi Nathan and Terry Starr started by conducting a survey on Facebook out front unveiling their business. The survey was targeted at working moms and moms who wanted to go back to the workforce. The idea croupe the survey was to find out what moms would want from a mom social network. The results of the survey are the bases of their blossomed business (David Spark, 2009).7. Micro-BloggingMicro-blogging is one of the most late(a) tools to appear yet, it is growing at an alarming rate. As mentioned earlier, it is a service that allowed its users to publish short messages of around 140 characters or less. Its limitation of 140 characters is overwhelmed by its tight integration with mobile phones. Most micro-blogging services provide the ability to add a new entries using SMS and also receiving others entries by SMS in addition to the regular browser from any pc or even cell phones. This ease of access is what helped burst its success. Though, the 140 does nt seems like much to say, yet, the last play off of years have shown, as will be shown later, its devastating power. Throughout this paper, Twitter -the most successful micro-blogging service -will be used interchangeably with micro-blogging.Micro-blogging shares the some common grounds with the other social media if you want to be followed, you have to be interesting to people. only Foods Market realized that fact and since their first day on twitter, they house by that rule. Within a week of highlighting some fun things that were going on at specific stores, people started noticing them on twitter. From there the market kept getting more publicity and within a year, they had over a million followers (Cody Nolden, 2009). While Whole Foods twitters were related to their stores, the CEO of Zappos.com took a slightly different approach. He personally drives the corporal account and always has something interesting to say most of which are not related to work. But most of them ha d one thing in common, humor. Now, Zappos has over 1.6 million followers (Cody Nolden, 2009). Dell has a more direct approach toward its twitter. It uses the medium to send exclusive offers to their followers. By June 2009, they made over $3,000,000 in twitter related sales (Antone Gonsalves, 2009)Interest will get you followers, but to keep them, the personal element should be added to the mix. JetBlue Airlines and Southwest Airlines have two things in common operating in the same industry and they both twitter. Both companies offer similar messages in their twitters however, JetBlue has 600,000 followers more than Southwest. By taking a closer look at both channels, you will notice that over half of JetBlues messages are in fact replies to other people where in Southwests the percentage goes way down. People tend to expression wormer toward a personal response (Cody Nolden, 2009).The best methodology to approach the micro-blogging differs by the industry, the goals, and the targe ted audiences and limited by creativity. A group of tourist information enthusiasts at Coos Bay, Oregon, led by Katherine Hoppe, looked at twitter differently. Instead of taking a direct approach, they looked at twitter as an opportunity platform. The group kept looking around twitter hunting their towns name looking for an opportunity to promote it. One day, Lee Hopkins along with his friend were planning a road trip from Seattle to San Francisco. They twittered their friends to suggest a place to stay, and one of them suggested Coos Bay. Katherine caught the message and contacted Lee and she was successful in persuading them to stop by the city. They stayed for a couple of days, enjoyed it, blogged their trip, and added what became a popular series of videos for the trip.Unfortunately, not all companies apprehend the concept of social media and micro-blogging. JCPenney has interpreted a strange twisted approach to reach people on twitter. They stalk anyone who mentions the word sh opping in an entry. They gob the writer with a message similar to check out JCPenney online at www.jcp.com No wonder they dont have too many followers.Micro-blogging has been useful to many, fruitless to some, and it has been disaster to others. Twitter has a hidden ugly face too and it showed it to Horizon Realty Group a Chicago real terra firma company. The story began with one of the company tenants Amanda Bonnen. Amanda twittered to her 20 followers that the company didnt care about the mold in her apartment. Because of the comment, the company filed a law suit against her, asking for $50,000 in damages to their reputations. They argued that there was no mold in her apartment. The next day, the law suit became one of the hottest topics in the whole twitter network which mean, the comment of irritation to 20 twitterers became a hot topic to thousands and thousands of people. Social media users do not read all the facts carefully before flaming. Whether Horizon Realty was righ t or wrong, no one in the social network would see the $50,000 as reasonable, either.The ugly face of micro-blogging doesnt just scare, it usefulness goes beyond that sometimes for a whole city like the city of Phoenix, AZ. One night at the city, a group of friends found out that their car had been towed as a part of a towing shrink from thats been going on for over a year and a half. The group behind the scam didnt know that this group was one of the most active twitterers in Phoenix. As a result, within 24 hours, there has been an investigation, and the word has reached the mayor and city council. Within 48 hours, the local media got involved screening the story. Within 72 hours, the scam has been shutdown (Sandra Gonzalez-Bailon, et al. 2009). So, what does the mean to businesses? Even though it makes twitter looks scary, it should only makes companies to jump in with both feet and warmnesss. Jumping in with both feet can help the company building a close relationship with the consumers. But thats not all they should also keep an eye on what people say about them. Being there in the first place before disasters can help form a better response and ease spreading it around.8. Social BookmarkingSocial bookmarking started as a service to keep your bookmarks with you wherever you go. Then it was morphed into a full fledged social community to share sites of interest, articles, images, or videos. Other people can rate, tag, and comment on these bookmarks which might seem like a social filtration for these bookmarks. The usage for these services is a straight forward one and the easier it is you make it for visitors of your website to bookmark it, the faster it will spread giving the interest factor existence. NBC11 in California realized the benefit of social bookmarking so they started by adding the option to share their news on Digg with a percolate of a button. Soon after, they realized also that the news with pictures are the most submitted ones. Since th e inclusion of Digg into NBC 11 website, the site traffic has spiked (Figure 1) (Adam Singer, 2008).Fig. 1 handicraft History for NBC11 before and after integrating Digg9. Video SharingAs the name implies, the websites helps their member to upload and share videos with the community. So many people became famous overnight because of these websites. The top most viewed video on YouTube -the most popular video sharing website -for 2009 was for a 48 years old Scottish lady signing in British Got Talent TV show. Now that lady signed a contract with Sony Music and released her first album which is on number 1 spot in the top 200 Billboard list (Stan Schroeder, 2009). The business sector wasnt left behind some companies were able to utilize the power of these websites too. One company to make a successful use of the video sharing is Blendtec. They introduced a expert of interesting, funny, and low cost advertisements which immediately gone viral over the network. Because of the series, the ads resulted in increasing the sales of the company five times (Samir Balwani, 2009).10. ConclusionWhen traditional media giants like CNN or MSNBC jumps into the social media wagon, you realize that it is not something to be taken lightly. Social media is here to stay it is not a passing event. For businesses, it is only a matter of what is the best way to take advantage of it and there is no special formula to answer that. It is not a one size fits all thing. But it is safe to say that the different tools of the social media can work well together and making use of more than one tool can produce better results. For example, simple things like linking your twitter or blog to your social network account, so that you can share your feed immediately in your social network. Another usage would be to twitter your blog entries. In the Coos Bay incident, mentioned earlier, the group created a Flickr -a social site for sharing images -album to hold images from around their town and bac k up the people in town to post their pictures. Social media marketing should be planned carefully, even though the financial costs might be nominal to none, but the time consumption factor isnt to be overlooked.

Critically assess the main arguments in Outsiders

Critic totallyy assess the main argu blend inforcets in OutsidersArguing that brformer(a)ly aberrancy is a more than common phenomenon than comprehend and that conventional wisdom that social deviates ar pathological is incorrectHoward S. Becker, born April 18th 1928, is a puff up known renowned American Sociologist. Of all his many writings, Outsiders, which was written in 1963, is unrivalled of his most imperative and prominent works, regarded as critical mere study within the make up of sociology and departure. It can be s service that it is star of Beckers most famous pieces of work which offered unity of the eldest and cle atomic number 18st explanations for the setling possible action. Outsiders continues to be a seminal text on the Inter goionists approach to deviance in ball club forthwith. He states that the step to the foresider the abnormal from conference rules has been the radical of oft speculation, theorizing, and scientific study (Becker 19 97 3). Howard Becker elaborates the study of deviance specifically from a social perspective, and considers the processes by which people or opposite types of acts come to be labelled as deviant. His ideas and arguments are based upon his nonion that deviance is non a case of a bad mortal but it is the run low of several(prenominal) star graphic symbolizing and labelling someones act as bad.This es understand asks one to critically assess the main arguments Becker puts fore in Outsiders. Becker sets the foundations for his ideas on labelling system in his retain and set aheads the nonions of other Sociologists much(prenominal) as Edwin Lemert. Lemert has been commonly credited with being the founder and one of the firsts to discuss what has been called the Societal Reaction hypothesis. In Lemerts book Social Pathology written in 1951, Lemert summarized an approach which has been regarded and considered to be an original version of the labelling conjecture. In hi s book he focuses on the social construction of deviance and explained deviance to be the merchandise of societys reaction to an act and the affixing of a deviant label to the actor. The book explains the concepts of ancient and secondary deviance and according to Lemert primary deviance is the initial relative incidence of an act causing someone of authority to label the actor as deviant. This initial labelling of an act deemed deviant would stay primary for as yearn as the actor can rationalize the process as a function of a socially acceptable role (Lemert 1951). As easy as discussing the theory of labelling, Becker appraises the process in where users of marihuana become labelled as deviants and talks about jazz music. The main objective is to go about to critically evaluate and analyse the ideas and themes contained within the book and assess his arguments.The book was written in the 60s and as a con ecological succession it is rather outdated, and although some of his ideas and theories are relevant in straight offs society, some of them can non in context. In assenting he uses the term Negros rather than African American to describe black people and he puts butchity into the kindred deviant group such(prenominal) as alcoholics, gamblers and people who are on medicates.In Beckers book he coins and furthers the term labelling theory. It explains that if singulars or groups are defined as deviant, there go a carriage be important and often unanticipated consequences at the level of deportment (Abercrombie et al. 1988 132).Chapter one explains what deviance is and Becker reason outs the limitations of existing start outs to define deviance. He explained for deviance to exist, the behaviour has to be first observed and so judged to be deviant. Becker stated that social groups create deviance by making the rules whose rape constitutes deviance and by applying those rules to particular people and labelling them outsiders (Becker 1997 9). Wh en a rule is enforced, the person who is supposed to throw a behavior broken it whitethorn be seen as a special kind of person, one cannot be trusted to live by the tiles associated on by the group. He is regarded as an outsider (Becker 1997 3). Furthermore, Becker points out that what one whitethorn define as a deviant other perhaps in a antithetical society would not. In addition the person who is thus labelled an outsider may have a different view of the matter and may believe that those that have judged them not to be legitimately entitled to do so so then the rule breakers may see those that judged as outsiders. Becker stated that different social groups created deviance by making the rules whose infraction constituted deviance and by applying those rules to particular people and labelling them as outsiders. Becker stated that after one has been ascribed as a deviant, they then progress down the path of a deviant career as that is what they have been labelled as. This then becomes tight to get rid of. Becker claimed though that when we are studying people who are deviant we should not busy their deviance for granted imputable to the fact we cannot assume that these people have actually committed a deviant act or broken some rule, because the process of labelling theory may not be infallible. Furthermore, an individual who has been labelled as a deviant may not have committed the act intentionally accept that it was in fact deviant. In addition, this does not ineluctably mean that the individual was flush a deviant in the past which is a critical examination of the book. When a person is labelled as such by society, they then accept this label so because they now seem themselves as criminals they then are likely to continue on their deviant behaviour (Becker 1997).Deviant becomes a control emplacement, it becomes the key definition in the eye of the wider society of who and what you are.In chapter deuce Becker points outs and states that he i s not here to argue that only acts which are regarded as deviant by others are truly deviant (Becker 1997 19). If we look at this in relation to homosexuality, in the 60s it was deemed as a criminal offence but too those who were homosexual it was who they were. Becker explains two different models of deviance the simultaneous and sequential models. The simultaneous claims that particular behaviours do as a result of a number of variables arising at the same time and the sequential model contends that particular behaviours are caused by sequence of occurrences. Becker criticises the implicit theoretical assumption in standard which attempts to explain deviancy that all factor operate simultaneously and seek to predict behaviour.Becker used recent delinquency as an example and explained and argued that coming from a broken plate or in an environment with negative sours leave behind not necessarily lead to juvenile delinquency but rather would be one of a series of sequential ev ents or circumstances.The sequential model in addition is too apparent in the following two chapters which detail and explain how one learns the techniques of how to use marihuana and this in the process assists the formation of an individual identity. this may include joining a social group in which the drug is available and learning their techniques on how to smoke. For instance, most users agree that it cannot be smoked like tobacco if one is to get elevated (Becker 1997 46). In addition without the use of some such technique the drug will produce no effects and the user will be unable to get high.In relation to a musician career, which is one of the topics Becker discusses, he stated that Members of the musicians demographic go from being normal family men to dance musicians, adapting to the needs of that sub-culture as they do so. For example, a musician may feel pressurized and forced into playing commercial music to meet perceived demand, even if that is not the type of mus ic they wanted to play or produce. Musicians in general continuously adapt their music to the needs of their sub-culture, even if this means compromising the quality of their music. As a result they may have been seen to be selling out, loosing their virtue and in addition they would have lost the respect from their musical counterparts.In todays society this may be apparent in hip hop, with many people complaining that the integrity of the genre has gone with record labels interested on what sells more, rather than practiced music. In relation to deviance, Becker linked it and explained the processes through which dance musicians find work as deviant. Even though their culture may be different to that of an ordinary job, what they do is no different to what occurs in the music patience today. A popular quote used in show melodic line is its not what you know, its who you know and it is just as imperative and important today as it was back in the 1960s. Nevertheless there is a contradiction when Becker talks about losing the respect of other dance musicians. It leads to the question though that how can respect be lost if all dance musicians act in the same itinerary and manner. Thus can it be seemed deviant.The final exam chapter looks at problems and sympathies within the study of deviance, where Becker describes a lack of substance in the theories that exist, believing them to be faulty or inadequate. He believes that not bountiful is known about deviant groups such as homosexuals, and gaps exist not just with homosexuals but with other deviant groups. He similarly describes how adit to information and to the groups that are the focus for study is restricted, because those classed as outsiders in enchantment reciprocate that label to the rest of society this forms part of an element of security measure on the deviants part. Questions are posed, such as how do look forers find doctors who are drug-addicts themselves, or even homosexuals of certain kinds? Becker even asks what stand-point the researcher will take, due to the many levels of individual characteristics in any social group essentially, how will a researcher remove any other factors that may influence his study beyond that which he intends to manipulate.The work analysing how deviance is socially constructed is revelatory. This has delicate presence. Becker shows how deviance is created through the appliance of rules by people who define deviance and then search for the miscreants. It is form of institutional violence enacted on the ineffective outer groups to create an inner sense of camaraderie the socially included.Becker examines some of the review articles and feels that labelling theory was created as a way of looking at a general champaign of human activity (1963). Moreover he suggests that it was created as a way of looking at a general area of human activity (1963).However, it is not a theory, with all the achievements and obligations that go with the title, nor is it focused exclusively on the act of labelling as some have thought. Moreover, Becker does name some of the criticisms given to labelling theory. For example, he states how interactionist theories have been accused of giving aid and comfort to the enemy, be the enemy those who would upset the stability of the existing severalize of the Establishment. In essence, we have already mentioned the suggestion of Erikson that deviance is a requisite part of society, showing the difference between right and wrong, and encouraging the mass of society to toe the line at the expense of the deviant minority. A further criticism mentioned by Becker is that given by many nonprogressive critics (although other non-conservative critics have also noted this) that is, that interactionist theories of deviance openly or covertly attack conventional morality. Becker acknowledges this, suggesting that intentionally or otherwise, they are acerbic of conventional modes of thought and e stablished institutions. Becker (1967) goes as far as to say that the labelling theorist must side with the deviator, as it is up to the sociologists to remedy foul situations. However, not all theorists would see the work of Becker and the other labelling theorists as quite so radical. As a matter of fact, many sociologists view labelling theory as an untestable and untrue theory. Furthermore, Becker (1963) acknowledges that his labelling theory is a theoretical approach, not a true theory. As well, Becker suggests that sociologists should attempt establishing empirical tests for his approach. As well, further criticism is given due to the fact that, following behaviour patterns is the mere result of the behaviour patterns being ascribed to it. Secondly, he suggests that while considering the more usual, e genuinelyday types of deviance, such as homosexuality, prostitution, and juvenile delinquency, the labelling theorists have totally ignored a more dangerous and malevolent type of deviance, what Liazos himself basis covert institutional violence. He suggests that this type of violence leads to such things as poverty and exploitation, the war in Vietnam, unjust tax laws, racism, sexism, and so on (1972). However, it is questionable whether labelling theorists should even attempt to discuss forms of deviance such as this in the same way as more commonplace individual law-breakings, or whether the two should be kept totally separate, being so different in subject matter. Liazos also criticises the labelling theorists as they do not consider the extent of the immenseness of power in their substantive analysis, although all stress its importance. He says that the really powerful, the upper classes and the power elite, those that could be referred to as the top dogs, are not considered in any great detail by the labelling theorists. A further criticism of the labelling theory is that of Jack Gibb (1966). He questions the success of the labelling theorists in terms of how they interpret the defining of behaviour as deviant, as well as, how much study is actually done in this area. In addition, Becker (1963) goes out of his way to explain the underlying problems of labelling theory. First of all, he suggests that there are not enough studies of deviant behaviour. He further implies that there are not enough studies of enough kinds of deviant behaviour. Finally, he insists that another deficiency of the labelling theory is that they dont have enough studies in which the persons doing the research achieve close tint with those that they study, in order for them to become aware of the complex and manifold character of the deviant activity. Becker (1963) also speaks of the difficulty with secrecy. As a matter of fact, in many cases the deviant individual performs deviant acts in secrecy and does not wish this behaviour to be known universally. For example, in the results found by Humphreys in his study of the Tearoom Trade, many of the indiv iduals partaking in homosexual behaviour were married with children. When asked later in questionnaires about their views on homosexuality, very few admitted to visiting the tearooms.In its entirety, the labelling theory has been imperative within the discipline of Sociology. What is more, after extensive critical analysis it appears to be evident that the theory has proven to be very significant in establishing a relative body of empirical research evidence on the study of crime and deviance. After an individual has been labelled a deviant they then lead a life of crime and become deviants which is the main focus Becker stressed. Nevertheless, Becker also pointed out that when studying deviant people one should not take their deviance for granted, as one cannot presuppose they had actually committed a deviant or criminal act for the reason that the process of labelling theory may not be foolproof and reliable. In other words, to be labelled deviant does not necessarily mean that th e individual is, or has been deviant in the past.Some sociologists dispute the labelling theory and insist it is not really a theory. Becker stressed the need for more empirical research on his study of it as he concluded Outsiders and many sociologists today have furthered his ideas and explanations. Nevertheless, the labelling theory will forever remain useful as long as deviant behaviour exists in society. Critically, Becker focuses on the way society reacts to people with criminal labels. He proposes that this label becomes a persons master status, meaning that this is a constant label, affecting and over-riding how others will view them. The status people use to identify and classify a person will always be that of a criminal and no matter what other social status the individual has, they will always be deemed deviant. He declared that one may be someone high in class, perhaps a sibling, parent or spouse nevertheless the first and major status that everyone would focus on was t he criminal and deviant label (Becker 1963).

Gender Inequality In Family

sex activity Ine feel In FamilyIn this examine I would like to register that achieving a greater equality in terms of reconciliation of sea captain and family life requires policies that not only introduce counterchanges in labour mart patterns, and also within the private sphere of family. This is to say, the reconceptualisation of wo custodys and mens roles cannot be achieved without the semi policy-making will descending from above and common social agreement emanating from below. raise along the essay, I am going to complement the conjectural channels with to a greater extent or less practical examples from the European context of use in order to discuss to what limit family policies enhance or diminish equality betwixt men and women.demographic changes towards new family patternsOne of numerous attri only ifes of the post-industrial era could be delimitate in terms of feminist claims for grammatical sexual urge equality. Indeed, women demands declare been s top of policy theater of operations in most(prenominal) post-industrial countries. As individuals, women firstly demanded the detachment from their traditional roles of housewives. subsequently on, due to demographic changes such as low grandness, womens issues became one of the acme priorities on political agenda. This fourth dimension, however, women reclaimed their rights not only as workers, nevertheless also as mothers. This political turn shouldnt be regarded as nostalgia for the manly bread-winner manakin. In effect, tough conditions of labour market and economic hardship order women under pressure in terms of making a tradeoff between having a family and pursuing a professional c arer. Subsequently, since a great proportion of women opted for stability custom alternatively than precariousness providing free finagle, the fertility rate has started dropping rapidly. Since the societys reproduction buttresses future states deliverance, it remains amplyly con futative if national policies, origin altogethery purported to tackle sex activity unlikeness, are not more than likely to be driven by political preoccupation of pernicious minutes of low fertility on productivity, profitability and competitivity of a country. The fact that until today most of the political effort to eradicate gender equality knockout on labour market adjustments quite an than finding real answers in the core of the problem in family patterns confirms the hypothesis of governments hypocrisy.From the theoretical perspectiveAlthough benefit regimes have been more or less successful in equalizing men and women in the labour market, the fact that women still perform the bulk of domesticated work gives evidence about the ineffectiveness of these policies in terms of gender integrity. In the theoretical field, scholars positions towards the relationship between family and gender have been rather convergent.According to Daly and Lewis (2000) the relationship be tween family and state has used to be defined in terms of level of contribution of individual to the labour market. victorious this criterion as a eachday measure of humans contribution, the non-remunerated headache giving activities would be therefore omitted since their social value would be considered as negligible. Although this exposition would probably more likely correspond to the definition traditional society of industrial era, residues do persist in westward countries persist in form of assigning women to the private sphere of family, trance stressing the duties of men as the bread-winners and therefore, the only actors in the ordinary sphere. In bicycle-built-for- two with the disproportional relationship between men and women, Lewis (2002332), for instance, highlights the unequal relationship between women and labour market. She contends that women are only taken into account when working(a), whereas women that stay at home and care for sisterren have not exi stence recognized as legitimate enough to the contribution to the society. This is to say that despite the fact that feminine date on the labour market increased steadily during the get going twenty years, no considerable change has been achieved at the household level, where the majority of domestic tasks, including cleaning and child rearing activities, continues to be performed by women (Lewis, 2002).On a similar note, Fraser(1994) tries to define the post-industrial eudaemonia regimes through two models. The universal caregiver model (1994593) assumes men and women as autonomous individuals and aims to attain the gender equity through the indorsement of equal opportunities and equal intercession in the labour market. The other one Caregiver parity model (1994593) aims to pass by gender equity through the bind of informal care and charitable caregiver allowances. However, because both models are in some aspect tell, they crack to alter the gendered conditions of empl oyment and reproduction and therefore, to respond to womens demands. Fraser thus deems that gender equity can only be achieved through the dismantlement of gender opposition between breadwinning and caregiving (Fraser, 1994611). In other words, the key to achieving gender equity in a postindustrial welfare state is to make womens current patterns the norm (Ibid.). Frasers universal caregiver approach considers childcare responsibilities as the alpha omega of persistent gender inequalities of current welfare systems.Peter McDonald (2002) evokes that in societies where women are treated as autonomous individuals in education and labour market, but as inferior beings in other social male prevail institutions, they are more likely to opt to not to have children. This argument would rein armament his hypothesis that low fertility rate in industrialised countries is most probably due to a persistent gender inequalities since the women willingness to have children didnt change. Surv eys such as those conducted my McDonald and Fraser place the issues of childcare at the centre of late(a) policy making interest.For the reasons discussed above, challenges Western societies are facing since the last two decades specifically the low birth rate, longevity risk and ageing race problem have become more pronounced and have force the policy- making authorities to introduce changes not only in the semipublic sphere, but also in the private sphere. In the second dowry of my essay, I am going to provide some experiential support from Netherlands and Sweden which tried to tackle the low fertility with gender torpid policies premised on reconciliation of family and work lives.Reconciliation policies in EUIn 1997, the Dutch government launched the Combination Scenario programme aimed to promote equal sharing of time between stipendiary and unpaid work among men and women. Since the Dutch acculturation is based on strong attachment to private and informal care (Plateng a et al., 1999), the policy goal was to be achieved through widening employment patterns rather than providing extensive childcare services. Long male and short female working hours were supposed to be equalized through policies such as shorter working week. Nonetheless, whereas public opinion hailed new measures, outcomes of the latter remained far from the initial goal. Part-time flinch did not diminish mens working hours, but moreover, it even pronounced the inequality of labour market since women (and not men) continued to opt for odd-job(prenominal) contracts in order to care for their children. Platenga et al. therefore concludean increase in the keep down of time spent in the market without any corresponding change in the organization of unpaid work will not only slow down any progress made towards gender equality, but will also have damaging effects on the quality of our lives. (1999109)Here again, the failure of Dutch initiative could be a consequence of putting withal much emphasis into the promotion of changes in employment patterns rather than in equal distribution of care time. Some authors suggest that such working-time regimes can either promote or diminish gender equality (Rubery et al, 1998 in Platenga et al, 1999). This would depend on to what extent the institutions and political milieu are favourable toward these changes. In the Dutch case, despite the public willingness of change, part-time work continued to be considered as a deviation from regular norm as well as the care work persisted to be understood as womens responsibility and was therefore, undervalued (Platenga et al., 1999)Unlike other EU countries, Sweden, for instance, has a long history of active women participation in public sphere. Since 1970 women stand for up to 50% of elected representatives at all levels of governance (Hantrais, 2000). The women -friendliness of Nordic welfare systems is supposed to be premised on this active female participation in politics. The Nordic model, also called the dual-breadwinner model is women-friendly in the sense of allowing women to move in public life and on the same time, allowing the reconciliation of motherliness and paid work. Moreover, in 1974 the maternity vacate had been replaced by gender neutral maternal leave that hitherto enabled men to actively participate in child rearing (Ibid). Although the generosity of Nordic child subventions cant be disputed, Scandinavian welfare system can be also discriminating for some women. Shalev (2008) claims that mother friendly state interventions can have detrimental effects for the labour market attainments of high class women by mission their type of employment to the public sector and subsequently, limiting their access to high managerial positions.Premised on the idea that childhood determines peoples lifecourse, the post-industrial societies should consider the investment in children as a sine qua non for sustainable outgrowth of knowledge economy ( Esping-Andersen, 2002). However, due to the cultural differences, the debate about whether support for childcare should be provided through childcare allowances (Netherlands) or whether families should rather benefit from childcare facilities (Sweden) dominates the European agenda. Lewis (2006) contends that increasing attention to children in the political agenda is a government issue of their future role as adult citizens rather than their role as child qua child (Lewis, 200643). As a counter-argument , Esping-Andersen concludes that there is no empirical evidence that mothers work could have detrimental impact on childrens development (Esping-Andersen, 2002). Other authors, however, suggest that key success of equal gender treatment consists in concentrating in private sphere instead of putting too much effort into the public sphere (Lewis 2006, McDonald 2002). In opposition to the Nordic model, where parents benefit from extensive childcare facilities, some authors deem that ca re provided by parents themselves cannot be substituted by any public service no result how good it is (Folbre and Nelson, 2000). In addition to this, Etzioni (1993) deems that the transmission of informal values and norms is more likely to happen in private sphere of family. Subsequently, children socialized in childcare facilities would suffer from lack of so-called parental deficit (Ibid).From the theoretical debate it is difficult and inappropriate to make generalizations about what kind of care is more suitable for children. On the other hand, Lewis argues convincingly that evidence shows a shift in parents opinion about time spent with children from being assumed as a duty to as an important part of self-fulfilment (Lewis, 2006). This is also to say that more fathers have begun to consider their involvement in rearing activities. In Sweden, the fathers month, designed to convince more fathers to take up the parental insurance benefit, was backed up by important political supp ort of so-called fathers group that campaigned for men to perform their role as fathers in taking the parental leave (Hantrais, 2000 170-1).Successful strategies to tackle gender equality and reconcile work and family life, need to include combined strategies (Esping-Andersen, 200266) that would guarantee security through income assurance for those who want to take parental leave and also, measures to provide a stable support for mothers employment, since unemployed and single mothers event the highest mendicancy risk (European Commission, 2007).Monoparental families at the edge of povertyDespite measures think to secure access to women into the labour market, solo mothers and lone-parent households continue to be the most vulnerable cohort in term of facing the risk of poverty and unemployment. By the same means, exclusion and poverty in lone-parents household is more likely to become a long-term phenomenon, since childrens development depends on parental and social investment and is very likely to be reproduced (Esping-Andersen, 2002). Following the constitution enacted by European Commission, women constitute almost totality of lone parents with an exclusion of United Kingdom, Denmark, Poland and Germany, where the percentage of young fathers under age 35 varies from 17% (United Kingdom ) up to 25% (in Denmark) (EC, 20073). The singleness of lone mothers makes their position in society extremely vulnerable unlike other forms of family, solo mothers lay out the double pressure to combine child care and breadwinner responsibilities on the same time.Although some critique could be raised towards Scandinavian welfare systems, Nordic countries occupy the top positions of international rankings and this is unconditionally of the type of conducted survey. However, the application of this model to the rest of European countries would require deep structural changes, especially in terms of more generous budget. Ergo, in the European continental context of sca rce budget resources, lone mothers that opt for childcare benefits instead of paid employment, condemn themselves to be more vulnerable to poverty. The key issue to empty this scenario stems from securing enough flexibility of labour market, so that lone mothers can combine the pleasure of motherhood with a decent employment.ConclusionIn this essay I tried to demonstrate that increased individualization which considers men and women as autonomous individuals freed from their family and gender responsibilities does not suffice to guarantee equal conditions for every individual. Subsequently, women become more vulnerable and risk either exclusion from welfare either pressure from labour market. From the theoretical perspective, most of the authors agree that insure reliable security net requires adjustments of social and working structures to the family, and not to the market. For example, one of the positive outcomes of the Netherlands Combination Scenario had been the application of legal minimum wage to all employees regardless of the amount of working hours (Platenga et al., 1999). This is to say that in order to eliminate mens and womens occupational segregation, policy-making authorities should guarantee sufficient adjustment of child care allowances and employment policies so both, men and women can equally go to paid and unpaid work.